Southover Manor School was a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of " room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exte ...

for girls at

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of t ...

, East Sussex, with a preparatory department.

History

The school was founded in 1924 at Lewes by Winifred Ponsonby. Initially a

convent school Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syst ...

, it was based at Southover Manor, which later became a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

. In 1937, a Southover girl won a major scholarship to

Newnham College, Cambridge Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millic ...

. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, the school was evacuated from Lewes to

Firle Place Firle Place is a Manor house in Firle, Sussex, United Kingdom. The Gage family have owned the land at Firle since acquiring it from the Levett family in the 15th century. The manor house was first built in the late 15th century by Sir John Gage, ...

, and in January 1940 the school announced that "Southover French Finishing School, specializing in French language and literature, and French cooking and dressmaking, will be opened after Easter in a

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peop ...

near Lewes, under the direction of M. le Baron and Madame la Baronne de Saint-Péreuse". The school’s buildings in Lewes were taken over by the 6th Field Regiment of the

Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery , colors = The guns of the RCA themselves , colors_label = Colours , march = * Slow march: "Royal Artillery Slow March" * Quick march (dismounted parades): " British Grenadiers/ Th ...

. In about 1960, the mother of one girl was said to have chosen the school "on account of the pleasing decoration in the headmistress's study".Nicky Ferguson
(obituary) in ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'', 6 October 2007 By 1963, the school was "recognized as efficient" by the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

. On 30 May 1974, the school marked its

Golden Jubilee A golden jubilee marks a 50th anniversary. It variously is applied to people, events, and nations. Bangladesh In Bangladesh, golden jubilee refers the 50th anniversary year of the separation from Pakistan and is called in Bengali ''"সু� ...

with an event at

Goldsmiths' Hall Goldsmiths' Hall is a Grade I listed building at the junction of Foster Lane and Gresham Street in the City of London. It has served as an assay office and the headquarters of London's goldsmith guild, the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, o ...

, in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

. In 1979, the number of girls in the school was reported as 125.''The Education Authorities Directory and Annual'' (1979), p. 582 In 1983, the school had 120 girls, of whom 110 were boarders. The core curriculum then consisted of English, History, Geography, Maths, French, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Music and Physical Education.David Freeman, ''Choosing the right school: a parents guide'' (1983)
p. 194
at books.google.com In that year, plans for the future closure of the school were set in motion and Lewes District Council produced a development brief for its land. In July 1984, the school closed and its premises were sold in June 1985, the proceeds being used to establish Southover Manor General Educational Trust Limited, the object of which is "to advance for the public benefit the education of boys and girls under the age of 25 years in any manner being exclusively charitable as the Governing Body of the Trust may from time to time determine". Houses were built on the school's former playing fields, street names including Cluny Street. Records of the school and its educational trust between the years 1939 and 1988 are held at the East Sussex Record Office, accession number ACC 9256. Draft conveyances and leases for the school between 1929 and 1939 (part of the papers of Adams and Remers of Lewes, Solicitors) are also in the Record Office.

Headmistresses

*1929–1959: Miss J. I. E. Aspden, d. 1963'SOUTHOVER MANOR SCHOOL' in ''The Times'', Issue 54422, 31 March 1959, p. 10, col. F: "Southover Manor School governors have appointed Countess Zamoyska (Priscilla Stucley), who is at present housemistress at St James's, West Malvern, to be headmistress at Southover in September, when J. I. E. Aspden retires." *1959–1970: Priscilla Stucley, Countess Zamoyska *1970–1980: Mrs M. B. Proctor (later Lady Downward), d. aged 83 in 2008. *Mrs Edward Forrest LGSM LTCL, appointed 1980

Notable old girls

Lady Annabel Goldsmith Lady Annabel Goldsmith (' Vane-Tempest-Stewart, formerly Birley; born 11 June 1934) is an English socialite and the eponym for a London nightclub of the late 20th century, Annabel's. She was first married for two decades to entrepreneur Mark B ...

(born 1934) *

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall Camilla (born Camilla Rosemary Shand, later Parker Bowles, 17 July 1947) is Queen Consort of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms as the wife of King Charles III. She became queen consort on 8 September 2022, upon the ac ...

(born 1947) *

Hermione, Countess of Ranfurly Hermione, Countess of Ranfurly (13 November 1913 – 11 February 2001; née Llewellyn) was a British author and aristocrat who is best known for her war memoir '' To War With Whitaker: The Wartime Diaries of the Countess of Ranfurly, 1939–1945 ...

(1913–2000), authorHermione Ranfurly, ''The Ugly One: the childhood memoirs of Hermione, Countess of Ranfurly'', 1913–1939 (1998), p. 118 *

Pamela Sharples, Baroness Sharples Pamela Sharples, Baroness Sharples (; 11 February 1923 – 19 May 2022) was a British life peer of the Conservative Party who was elevated to the peerage in 1973 after the assassination of her husband, Sir Richard Sharples, Governor of Bermuda. ...

(born 1923) *

(born 1934) * Mary Fagan (born 1939),

Lord-Lieutenant A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibilit ...

of Hampshire since 1994 * Christina Dodwell (born 1951) *Dione Marian, Lady Digby (born 1934), National Rivers Authority *Nicky Ferguson (died 2007), botanical author *Katherine Hamilton (born 1954), artistkatehamiltonartist.co.uk
/ref>

References

External links

Southover Manor School
on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...

{{authority control Girls' schools in East Sussex Boarding schools in East Sussex Educational institutions established in 1924 Defunct schools in East Sussex Educational institutions disestablished in 1988 1924 establishments in England 1988 disestablishments in England Defunct boarding schools in England Lewes